Ten people were killed and over 40 injured today when an elderly man drove his car through a crowd of people at a farmers market in Santa Monica, Calif.
According to press reports, the man drove three blocks down a closed street, killing, among others, a 3-year-old girl.
Fox News reports witnesses saw bodies and boxes of produce fly as the car proceeded down the street, which is closed once weekly for the market.
“It was like a hurricane just came down the center of the street,” said Megan Sheehy, general manager of a nearby restaurant, according to the report.
Of the 45 people injured, press reports indicate 15 of them were hurt critically.
Fox News said Santa Monica Police Chief James T. Butts Jr. reported the driver, in his 80s, was tested for alcohol at a hospital, but none was found in his blood.
Witnesses said the 1992 Buick was moving quickly down the closed portion of Arizona Avenue.
“Sixty miles per hour and it wasn’t slowing down. It was flying. And then people down, dead and everything,” said David Lang, manager of a shoe store along the market route, according to Fox.
“I heard a car just hit, bang, bang, bang,” said Mojgan Pour, 38. “I heard people screaming. By the time I looked, I never even saw the car. I tried to help a man and he died while I was helping him.”
David Allwas told KABC-TV by telephone that the driver of the car looked like he might be having a heart attack.
“His arm was straight on the wheel and his body was stiff,” Allwas said.
Police are not sure whether the driver intentionally ran down the people or it was an accident.
